Feather duster



y 1961 B. GEORGE 2,984,852

FEATHER DUSTER Filed Oct. 1. 1959 INVENTOR. BERNARD L. GEORGE A T TOR/VEYS vUnited States Patent Gee Patented May 23, 1961 FEATHER DUSTER Bernard L. George, R0. Box 1204, Portola, Calif.

Filed Oct. 1, 1959, Ser. No. 843,885

2 Claims. (Cl. 15-144) The present invention relates generally to supporting handles for feather clusters and the like and is particularly directed to an extensible handle therefor.

Conventional feather dusters and the like have long been provided with handles of fixed length. These dusters while being adequate for dusting the vast majority of household items whach are positioned vw'thin arms reach of the user, leave much to be desired in the dusting of other items beyond arms reach. For example, it is often desirable to remove unsightly cob webs dangling from the ceiling of a room by dusting. This necessitates standing upon a chair or the like in order to reach the cob Webs with a cluster of the usual fixed short length. Alternatively, a separate long handled duster might be employed for the high dusting applications and a short handled duster for arms reach applications in order to achieve a full range of dusting capabilities. Both of the foregoing possibilities are disadvantageous, either from the standpoint of the efiort involved or the number of separate implements required in the accomplishment of a single simple household chore.

Advantages are therefore to be gained by the provision of an extensible handle for a feather duster or the like which may be readily extended from a short length for usual dusting applications to substantially any desired length for reaching items beyond arms length.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a readily extensible handle for feather dusters and the like.

Another object of my invention is the provision of a duster handle having a plurality of telescoping extension sections wherein the section of smallest diameter is adapted for attachment to the duster and the section of largest diameter serves as the handle such that the overall duster unit is properly balanced.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a handle of the class described having a frictional grip to enhance retention of the extension sections in collapsed condition.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a duster with extensible handle wherein the duster is secured to the handle by frictional engagement.

The invention possesses other objects and features of advantage, some of which, with the foregoing, will be set forth in the following description of the preferred form of the invention which is illustrated in the drawing accompanying and forming part of the specification. It is to be understood, however, that variation in the showing made by the said drawing and description may be adopted within the scope of the invention as set forth in the claims.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the duster unit of the present invention with the handle in a collapsed condition.

Figure 2 is a view similar to Figure 1 but with the handle extended.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary sectional view taken at a plane through the axis of the duster unit and illustrating particularly a preferred means of attachment of the duster to the handle.

Figure 4 is a fragmentary elevational view of the head of the handle and illustrating particularly the frictional grip for retention of the extension sections of the handle in collapsed condition.

Referring now to Figure 1 of the drawing, a cluster unit 11) according to the present invention is seen to include an extensible handle 11 and a feather duster 12 secured to an end thereof. The handle 11 may be employed in collapsed condition as depicted in this figure to accomplish dusting of items within arms reach in the manner of a conventional duster. Of substantial advantage with the cluster unit 10, however, the handle may be extended to substantially any desired length, as depicted in Figure 2, to facilitate dusting of items beyond arms reach and which a conventional duster is incapable of reaching with the user in a normal unelevated standing position. Although the handle 11 is described herein relative to its employment with a cluster 12, it will be appreciated that heads other than dusters may in addition be employed with he handle for similar purposes.

As regards preferred structure for the extensible handle 11 of the present invention, the handle is preferably formed of a plurality of telescoping tubular extension sections 13 of progressively shorter length and smaller diameter. Each section is provided with a pair of diametrically opposed detents 14 as best shown in Figure 3 which are secured to the respective legs of a U-shaped leaf spring 16. One spring with its associated pair of detents is disposed within each tube section 13, the detents extending through apertures in the tube walls for radial movement relative thereto. The detents of each section are longitudinally spaced from the base end of the section which is provided with an annular stop collar 19. Each section exclusive of the leading section is further provided with a pair of longitudinally spaced annular indentations 21 and 22 at its leading end for slidably engaging the periphery of the succeeding extension section of smaller diameter telescoped therein. Succeeding sections may hence be longitudinally translated in and out of respective preceding sections upon depression of detents 14. Moreover, when a succeeding section is fully extended from a corresponding preceding section, the stop collar 19 at the base end of the succeeding section engages the trailing indentation 22 at the leading end of the preceding section to prevent further extension. In such fully extended position, the detents are without the confines of the preceding section and are urged radially outward by virtue of the spring loading to engage the leading end of the preceding section. The succeeding section is hence locked against movement in either longitudinal direction when fully extended from its preceding section. Radial movement of the fully extended section is also prevented by the indentations 21 and 22 of the preceding section being in engagement with the periphery of the trailing end of the extended section. Hence the extensible handle 11 may be readily extended from a collapsed short length in which all extension sections 13 are telescoped within their respective preceding sections to substantially any desired length by withdrawing a corresponding number of extension sections from their respective preceding sections.

It is particularly important to note that the largest extension section 23 of handle 11 is utilized as the handle grip and the smallest section as the head for attachment to the duster 12 or the like. Such arrangement facilitates proper balance in the overall duster unit inasmuch as the weight of the bulkier grip section tends to counterbalance the weight of the duster secured to the smaller head section when the handle is in an extended condition. The largest or grip section is consequently preferably longitudinally grooved as shown generally at 23 to facilitate the attainment of a good grip by the user. In addition a hanging loop 24 is advantageously provided at the base end of the grip section to facilitate ready storage of the duster unit.

Considering now the head section of the handle 11 which is adapted for attachment to the duster 12, it is to be noted that same is preferably provided With an annular flange 26 about its periphery at a position intermediate its length. In addition, the duster 12 is preferably provided with a base knob 27 of wood or other partially compressible material within which the feathers or the like are imbedded. With the duster and head section so arranged, connection therebetween is advantageously provided by frictional engagement. More particularly, a central slightly tapered bore 28 is provided in the face of the knob 27 with largest diameter slightly greater than that of the head section. The head section is embedded within the bore 28 with the face of the knob 27 in abutment with he flange 26. By virtue of the taper to the bore 28, and the compressibility of the knob material, the head section when fully imbedded is tightly frictionally engaged by the knob. Fabrication and assembly of the handle 11 and cluster 12 is consequently simplified in that no special fasteners or fastening devices requiring time consuming assembly operations are employed in the construction of duster unit 10.

It will be appreciated that the individual extension sections 13 of the handle 11 may after long service wear to the extent that insufficient friction exists between the periphery of the sections and the annular indentations 21 and 22 to retain the sections in collapsed condition. The foregoing is overcome in the extensible handle 11 of the present invention by means of a frictional grip member 29 (see Figure 4) for enhancing retention of the extension sections in collapsed condition. More particularly, member 29 is preferably annular and of a pliant gripping material such as rubber, various plastics, or the like. The member 29 is secured to the trailing face of flange 26 in concentric spaced relation to the head extension section. The inner diameter of member 29 is slightly less than that of the grip section of largest diameter. With all the extension sections collapsed, the grip member 29 hence tightly frictionally engages the periphery of the leading end of the grip section and retains all of the extension sections in collapsed condition.

There is thus provided by the present invention an ex tensible handle for dusters and the like which facilitates usual dusting applications as well as dusting of objects beyond arms reach by mere extension of the handle. The overall duster unit is readily constructed with a minimum of time and labor by virtue of attachment of the handle and duster being accomplished by frictional engagement. In addition, a frictional grip is provided on the handle to insure selective retention of the handle in collapsed condition even after the telescoping extension sections of the handle are worn from being in long service.

What is claimed is:

1. A feather duster unit comprising an extensible handle formed of a plurality of telescoping tubular extension sections of progressively shorter length and smaller diameter, an annular flange secured concentrically about the section of smallest diameter at a location intermediate its length having an annular member extending toward and open to the trailing end of said section, said member being of a form and size to receive the leading end of all of said sections and to frictionally engage the largest of said sections when the sections are in collapsed position, and a cluster having a base knob of partially compressible material, said knob having a central slightly tapered bore in its end face, said section'of smallest diameter embedded in said bore in tight frictional engagement therewith with the face of said knob being in end abutment with said flange.

2. A feather duster unit comprising a plurality of telescoping tubular handle extension sections including a leading section, each of said sections having a stop collar at its trailing end and each section trailing said leading section having a pair of longitudinally spaced annular inthrough the wall of each section at a position spaced 1ongitudinally from its trailing end, the detents of each suc' cessive section projecting radially outward into engagement with the leading end of the preceding section when the collar at the trailing end of the succeeding is'in engagement with the trailing indentation of the preceding section, an annular flange secured concentrically about said leading section at a position intermediate its length, an annular frictional grip member secured to the trailing face of said flange in concentric spaced relation to the leading section for reception of and tight frictional engagement with the section of largest diameter when the sections are in telescoping collapsed condition, and a feather duster having a base knob of partially compressible material, said knob having a central slightly tapered bore in its end face, said leading section embedded within said bore in tight frictional engagement with the knob and the end face of the knob in end abutment with said flange.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,240,001 Youngren Sept. 11, 1917 1,598,742 Parker Sept. 7, 1926 FOREIGN PATENTS 382,202 France Feb. 1, 1908 

